Everyone eats. What we eat and why varies from place to place and even throughout time. Since food is so fundamental to the human experience, anthropologists have been studying what people eat for over a century. One pivotal transition in human diet occurred approximately 11,500 years ago when humans began farming in the Near East. Over the next ten thousand years or so, farming became a near-universal phenomenon. My dissertation research focuses on answering the question, why do we farm?

My work focuses on the transition to pre-maize agriculture by indigenous peoples living in Eastern North America (also known as the Interior Eastern Woodlands). Using novel statistical approaches, I combine reconstructions of the paleoenvironment and paleoecology of the region with prehistoric dietary data from excavated archaeological sites. Using these reconstructions and data, I test previously untestable hypotheses. Specifically, my work examines the effects of climate change and foraging risk on the pre-maize foraging-farming transition in Eastern North America.

Select Conference Presentations

• Melissa G Torquato and ER Otárola-Castillo (2022). Expanded Temporal Window When Examining the Effects of Climate Change on the Foraging-Farming Transition in Eastern North America. Society for American Archaeology 87^th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Melissa G Torquato and ER Otárola-Castillo (2022) A Quantification of the Effect of Regional Climate Change on the Prehistoric Foraging-Farming Transition in Midwestern North America. 91^st American Association of Biological Anthropologists Meetings, Denver, CO.
• Melissa G Torquato and ER Otarola-Castillo (2021). A Quantification of the Effect of Foraging Risk on the Prehistoric Foraging-Farming Transition in the Interior Eastern Woodlands of North America(poster). 90^th American Association of Physical Anthropologists Meetings, Los Angeles, CA. (Read abstract here!)
• Melissa G Torquato (2019). The Effects of Climate Change and Risk on the Foraging-Farming Transition in North America (po. Society for American Archaeology 84^th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM. (Read abstract here!)
• Melissa G Torquato and ER Otarola-Castillo (2019) Why Do We Farm? The Effect of Climate Change and Risk on the North American Foraging-Farming Transition. 88^th American Association of Physical Anthropologists Meetings, Cleveland, OH.

As a member of the Laboratory for Computational Anthropology and Anthroinformatics (LCA) at Purdue University, I conduct research that centers around the question “what do we eat and why?”. I have assisted with the development of novel quantitative methodologies to examine significant subsistence behavior, specifically the emergence of meat consumption and stone tool use. Furthermore, I have worked with an international team of scholars to publish research on the use of quantitative methods in anthropology.

Additionally, I serve as Lab Manager for the LCA. In this role, I train and oversee a team of undergraduate researchers who conduct evolutionary anthropological research. I have trained undergraduate researchers in various methodologies, including quantitative analyses, computer coding, 3D visualization, and database management. Previous undergraduate research projects include the analysis of potential chop marks on mastodon bones, the examination of canid bite marks on bones, and the nutritional value of dietary resources used in prehistoric North America.

Select Conference Presentations

American Association of Biological Anthropologists

• Otárola-Castillo ER, Melissa G Torquato, JB Rapes, B Schiery, and ME Hill (2020). 13,000-years of climate change and food-security-risk management of Great Plains foragers and farmers. Note: presented in 2021. (Read abstract here!)

Society for American Archaeology

• Coon SN, J Harris, T Keevil, Melissa G Torquato and ER Otárola-Castillo (2022). Morphometric Comparison of Human Butchery Evidence to Canid Modifications within a Bayesian Framework. (Read abstract here!)
• Denker E, T Keevil, Melissa G Torquato and ER Otárola-Castillo (2022). Prehistory Bites Back: Replicating Animal Bite Marks on Bone Surfaces.
• Keevil T, S Coon, Melissa G Torquato and ER Otárola-Castillo (2022). Who Killed the Mammoth? Applying 3D Geometric Morphometrics, Deep Learning, and Bayesian Inference to Identify the Cause of Bone Surface Modifications.
• Hill ME, ER Otarola-Castillo and Melissa G Torquato (2021) Long-term Dietary Change among Hunters of  the North American Great Plains. (Read abstract here!)
• Keevil T, Melissa G Torquato, S Coon, J Harris and ER Otárola-Castillo (2021) Re-evaluating Butchery Marks from a Mastodon Assemblage Using 3D Geometric Morphometrics and Experimental Archaeology. (Read abstract here!)
• May A, Melissa G Torquato, T Keevil, L Christopher and ER Otárola-Castillo (2021) The Effect of Climate Change and Human Predation on the Niche Space of North American Proboscideans. (Read abstract here!)
• Otárola-Castillo ER, Melissa G Torquato, AJ Nihells, JB Rapes, ME Hill (2019). Managing the Effects of Climate Change and Foraging Risk through Dietary Portfolio Diversity, and Example from 13,000 years of Human-Environment Interactions on the Great Plains of North America.
• Hawkins HC, Melissa G Torquato, E James, JC Thompson, E Otarola-Castilo. (2017). On Point-Cloud 9: A Replicable protocol to model 3D point clouds. (Read abstract here!)

Paleoanthropology Society

• Harris J, C. Marean, J Thompson, Melissa G Torquato, Z Alemseged, S McPherron, E Otárola-Castillo (2019). An updated Bayesian model of bone surface modification and application to the “Dikika Marks” (Ethiopia, 3.4 Ma).
• Melissa G Torquato and Otárola-Castillo ER (2018). GUImorph: A user-friendly R package with a graphical user interface to digitize and conduct geometric morphometric analyses of 2D and 3D landmark, curve and surface data. (Find the software here!)
• Otárola-Castillo ER, Melissa G Torquato, HC Hawkins, E James, JA Harris, CW Marean, SP McPherron, JC Thompson (2018). Differentiating between cutting actions on bone using 3D Geometric Morphometrics and Bayesian analyses with implications to human evolution.

As a member of the Bioarchaeology Laboratory at Purdue University, I work with Dr. Michele Buzon analyzing human skeletal remains from Tombos. Tombos, an archaeological site located in modern Sudan, dates from ~1400 – 650 BC (more information here).

By combining three-dimensional (3D) methodologies and multivariate statistical analyses, our research aims to expand our understanding of the interactions between Egyptian colonists and local Nubians. Specifically, I use 3D geometric morphometrics to examine the cranial morphological variation of individuals found at Tombos. Through this research, we will examine the connections between burial types and cranial shape, which may have implications for understanding socioeconomic status and sociopolitical changes at Tombos.

Select Conference Presentations

• Buzon MR, Melissa G Torquato, and ER Otárola-Castillo (2019). 3D Morphometric Analysis of Cranial Variation at the Egyptian Colonial Site of Tombos in Nubia (Abstract). 88^th American Association of Physical Anthropologists Meetings, Cleveland, OH. American Association of Physical Anthropologists. (read abstract here!)
• Buzon MR and Melissa G Torquato (2018). Variation in markers of identity at Tombos: an integrated analysis of 3-D morphometric analysis, mortuary practices and geographic origins (87Sr/86Sr) (podium). 14^th International Conference for Nubian Studies, Paris. International Society for Nubian Studies.

As a senior at Bryn Mawr College, I conducted independent anthropological research to complete my honors thesis with Dr. Maja Seselj. In my thesis, titled Variation in the Shape of the Orbital Opening: a Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Ancestry, I applied mathematical theory and statistics to complete a 3D geometric morphometric analysis of skeletal morphology and its use in assessing human ancestry. My findings called into question the validity of standard ancestry assessment techniques.

Upon graduation, I completed an NYCEP 3D Geometric Morphometric Internship with Dr. Eric Delson at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). During my internship, I assisted with studies using 3D geometric morphometrics to study the relationships between extant and extinct primates. Additionally, I continued to hone my applied mathematical skills and learned computer coding (e.g. Python and R) to complete biostatistical analyses

Select Conference Presentations

American Association of Biological Anthropologists

• Melissa G. Torquato and M. Šešelj (2016). Examining the Variation of Orbital Shape in Modern Human Populations Using 3D Geometric Morphometrics (Abstract), American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159: 315-16. (read abstract here!)